Mediation

It has been a while since I heard anything about what is happening on the mediation talks between all the parties trying to determine the allocation of Nortel Estate assets between countries. I spoke to a representative of Koskie Minsky about a month ago and she told me that they were participating. I also expect that the monitor Ernst and Young is there as well. I don't know if the Canadian Government is represented though I would think that the CRA has a big interest. The creditor's committee is most likely involved, which means that the PBGC is in there looking after the USA pension trust fund that pays retirees in the US when companies go bankrupt. The UK is in there with their pension protection fund people and they have an outrageous sized claim on the global estate. So where is Canada?

It would be nice if Koskie Minsky gave us a hint of what is happening, or the NRPC for that matter. This mediation will have a huge impact on all claimants whether in the US or Canada but the Canadian pensioners and LTD people will be directly impacted since they are waiting on the resolution to understand if there will be any assistance to them for their pensions and disabled payment benefits. Retirees in the USA and the UK are already covered by their respective governments up to the limits and within the rules of those organizations, but the Canadian pensioners are at the mercy of the courts and the administrator where their pension is concerned.

A decision in favor of Canada may negatively impact other country claimants but it will have no impact on the basic qualified pensions that are being paid to retirees in the US and the UK. It will have an impact on retirees in Canada since their pension trust fund is underwater and has a claim against the estate which if paid out could help enhance the amount of pension they receive. The same situation exists for the Canadian Disabled people who have virtually nothing in the portion of the HWT fund that they were allocated by the court. They have a claim against the estate for the money promised them and a payout there would make a huge difference to them.

I don't understand why we are not being kept better informed on the progress of this and other items such as Morneau Sobeco's progress on determining the funding ratio of the fund.

Canadian NRPC Town Hall Meetings 2011

In the latest newsletter the Canadian NRPC has announced that there will be a series of town hall meetings in 2011. The following meetings have been set up:

Jan 12 Belleville 10am-noon Greek Hall
70 Harder Dr.,Belleville, ON, K8N 4Z5

Jan 14 Ottawa noon-2pm Nepean Sportsplex
1701 Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa, K2G 1W2

Jan 18 London 1pm-3pm Marconi Club,
120 Clarke Road, London, ON N5W 5E1

Jan 20 GTA 10am-noon Mississauga Conv. Centre
Derry Rd at Hurontaio

Jan 25 Montreal Centre de recéption Sorrento
1275 Avenue Dollard, Lasalle, QC H8N 2J1
10am-noon English
1:30pm-3:30pm French

For people in smaller locations and outside Canada there will be a webinar on Friday 28th 2011 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.

Canadian NRPC Annual dues

The NRPC have issued a newsletter sent by email to their paying membership.
One item on the newsletter and also published on the NRPC website is the request for members to pay an annual dues of $20 CDN.

For those of you who wish to join or re-join you can do so by logging on to their website and following the instructions.

Personally I think the $20 fee is reasonable considering the work that they are doing to try to help us. Perhaps the fee could be waived for disabled people, and widows or widowers of retired Nortel people who wish to join.

I know that there are many Nortel retirees and ex-employees who are not members of the NRPC and that's their choice. Perhaps it's because they don't know about it, or because they just don't want to join for various reasons.

I believe firmly that all ex-Nortel people should get what ever information is out there on this situation, whether you are a member of the NRPC or not so I will continue to try to keep people informed as we go through these difficult times.

Please feel free to pass on my blog address to your friends and colleagues. However, I would like to point out that the information I place on this blog is not a substitute for being a member of the NRPC and receiving information directly from them. But since my interest is in both Canada and the USA I will try to provide updates for both areas.

I hope this new year will bring some closure to the situation and that it will be better than our expectations.